Abstract: This article studies the endogenous and exogenous causes of the high prices of US medical goods and services and their relationship with the international health displacement of their patients through the economic and normative analysis of the legal provisions of national medical care. It was found that the deregulation of health sector agents has caused an increase in direct and indirect costs with very detrimental effects on patients.
This article contributes new knowledge since it identifies market concentration and federal deregulation as motivators for the displacement of patients to other destinations for medical purposes. The United States government approved, in , a subsidy to public hospitals for Medicare program patient bills medical care for those over 65 years of age , based on a value determined by medical associations Cebul et al.
Previously, the healthcare system was eminently public, with isolated actions from private organizations. Hospitals and medical organizations fulfilled a social function, and there was a strict regulation on the prices of medical procedures and drugs that required a prescription from specialists.
In , capitation was applied, as a form of financing for the federal health system, which is a fixed payment per patient, transferring the risk of care to private entities or Health Maintenance Organizations HMO to health professionals McGahan, , which facilitated the operators of the system to increase the prices of procedures and drugs to promote competitiveness and health coverage.
Companies are the main source of national health insurance, covering more than million individuals Fuchs, The federal government covers However, the increase in coverage does not mean an improvement in the quality of medical care.
